5.  The applicant was born in 1973 and lives in İzmir.
6.  On the night of 31 May 2001, at around midnight, police officers from the anti‑terrorist branch of the İzmir police conducted an operation to arrest a number of persons suspected of participating in an illegal demonstration. To that end, a group of police officers arrived at the two-storey house where the applicant and his uncle Sabri Selvi lived. The police officers were looking for the applicant’s uncle, who was suspected of having been involved in the aforementioned illegal demonstration.
7.  According to the applicant’s version of events, the applicant, who lived on the first floor of the building, heard some noise coming from the second floor, where his uncle lived. He opened his flat door to see what was going on. He saw some persons in civilian clothes and asked them who they were. They asked the applicant to show his identity card. The applicant showed them his identity card, but when he asked them to show their identity cards as well the persons concerned, who turned out to be police officers in civilian clothes, they became angry and complained of the fact that everyone asked to see their identity cards. They then chased the applicant into his flat, beat him up and swore at him. After arresting the applicant, they prepared an arrest report which they forced him to sign.
8.  The arrest and search report dated 31 May 2001, which was signed by six police officers, a witness, the applicant and his uncle Sabri Selvi, stated the following:
“...Wearing police identification vests and having taken security precautions, we knocked on the door of the flat in question. We told the man who opened the door that we were police officers and that we wanted to carry out a search of the flat. With the agreement of the occupant, who said ‘You may search’, we entered the flat.
Following the identity check, having realised that the man [who opened the door] was ... Sabri Selvi, we arrested him. In his presence, we conducted a search of the [flat] and found no evidence of involvement in crime. When asked whether any damage was caused to anything in the flat due to the search, the arrestee said ‘None’. As we were about to leave the flat together with the arrestee, a person called Yahya Selvi... attacked Deputy Superintendent Ramazan Oral and started hitting him while swearing and saying things like ‘You cannot take anyone away from here; I f..k your mothers and wives’. We overpowered Yahya Selvi by force, arrested him and took him with the other person to police headquarters for investigation...”
9.  On 31 May 2001 at about 2 a.m. the applicant was taken to the Atatürk Hospital, where he was examined by a doctor. In his report, the doctor noted the presence of swelling on the applicant’s face. The same day at 12.30 p.m. a statement was taken from the applicant at police headquarters. In his statement, the applicant admitted that he had attacked the police officers while they were conducting a search of his house. He explained that he had been angered by the fact that the police officers had arrived to arrest his uncle at night. He also stated that he had not been subjected to any form of ill‑treatment during his detention in police custody and that he had not given his statement to the police under duress. At about 2 p.m. the applicant was again taken to the Atatürk Hospital. The doctor who examined the applicant prepared a report identical to the previous one.
10.  On 31 May 2001 police officers took statements from Deputy Superintendent Ramazan Oral, who complained that he had been attacked by the applicant. He also requested them to institute criminal proceedings against the applicant. At 2 a.m. on the same day Ramazan Oral underwent a medical examination at the Atatürk Hospital. The doctor who examined Mr Oral noted in his report the presence of a swelling measuring 25 x 35 x 05 mm on the left chin and at ear level, and hyperaemic scratches measuring 10 x 25 mm on Mr Oral’s left arm. He prescribed three days’ sick leave on account of the injuries.
11.  The same day, the applicant’s legal representative submitted a request to the Chief Public Prosecutor’s office in Bornova, seeking information about the whereabouts of the applicant and his uncle and the charges against them. He also asked the prosecutor’s office to grant him permission to meet with the suspects and, in view of the witness statements alleging that the applicant had been beaten up during the arrest, to send the applicant to hospital for a medical examination and treatment. The representative’s request to meet with the applicant and his uncle was dismissed by the prosecutor’s office on 31 May 2001.
12.  On 1 June 2001 the applicant underwent a further medical examination at the Bornova State Hospital. The report stated that there were no signs of physical violence on the applicant’s body.
13.  On the same day the applicant was brought before the Bornova Magistrate’s Court. Assisted by his lawyer, the applicant denied the allegation that he had assaulted Ramazan Oral and alleged that he had been beaten up and insulted by the police officers who had come to his house the day before. Having regard to the nature of the crime and the evidence contained in the case file, the court ordered that the applicant be placed in pre-trial detention for having obstructed the police officers by using physical violence.
14.  On 4 June 2001 the public prosecutor initiated criminal proceedings against the applicant under Article 258 of the Criminal Code for resisting the police. In his indictment, the public prosecutor stated that, while the police officers were conducting a search in the applicant’s house, the applicant had assaulted the police officer Ramazan Oral, who had subsequently been declared unfit for work for three days due to his injuries.
15.  On 6 June 2001 the applicant challenged the decision ordering his pre-trial detention and requested the Bornova Assize Court to initiate criminal proceedings against the police officers who had ill-treated him on 31 May 2001.
16.  On 7 June 2001 the Sixth Chamber of the Assize Court, acting as the appeal body, refused the applicant’s request for release pending trial, holding that his pre-trial detention was lawful in view of the evidence contained in the case file.
17.  On 11 July 2001 the Bornova Assize Court heard oral evidence from the applicant’s uncle Sabri Selvi. The latter stated that his nephew had not insulted the police officers, but that one of the officers had slapped him in the face. The court ordered the continued detention of the applicant.
18.  On 10 December 2001 the Bornova Assize Court heard evidence from the applicant’s wife, Garip Selvi, and his brother Kazım Selvi, who lived in the same flat as the applicant. Mrs Selvi stated that her husband had been beaten up by the police officers when he had asked them to show their identity cards to prove that they were police officers, and that he had not resisted his arrest by the police. Mr Kazım Selvi also claimed that his brother Yahya had been beaten up and insulted by the police officers and that he had not assaulted them or resisted arrest.
19.  On 15 February 2002 the applicant’s representative applied to the Bornova Assize Court requesting it to order a criminal investigation concerning the police officers whose actions had led to the unjust detention and trial of the applicant. Relying on the statements given by the defence witnesses Garip Selvi and Kazım Selvi, the applicant’s representative claimed that, on the night of the incident in question, the police had insulted and beaten up the applicant following his request to see their identity cards. He maintained that the applicant should be considered to be the victim of the events rather than the accused. He further noted that no statements had been taken from the police officers by the public prosecutor or the trial court and that there was no evidence against the applicant apart from the medical report [concerning Ramazan Oral] which could easily have been obtained by police officers from the anti-terrorist branch. He therefore alleged that the police officers in question had unlawfully arrested and beaten up the applicant in his bedroom in the middle of the night and had thus violated his right to the protection of his home.
20.  On 19 June 2003 the Bornova Assize Court convicted the applicant of obstructing police officers and sentenced him to two months’ imprisonment. No response was given to the applicant’s allegations.
21.  On 25 October 2005 the Court of Cassation quashed the above judgment in view of the more favourable provisions of the new Criminal Code dated 1 June 2005.
22.  Meanwhile, following the administrative re-organisation of the courts in İzmir, the applicant’s case was taken over by the İzmir Criminal Court.
23.  On 15 May 2006 the İzmir Criminal Court convicted the applicant of obstructing police officers in the performance of their duties by insulting and assaulting an officer. It sentenced the applicant to a fine of 240 new Turkish liras (TRY). In its judgment, the court relied on the statements given by Mr Oral, the applicant and witnesses, as well as documentary evidence such as the arrest and search report.
24.  On 15 September 2006 the applicant appealed to the Court of Cassation, complaining that the first-instance court had convicted him without conducting an adequate investigation into the events in question. He claimed that the first-instance court had relied on the investigation carried out by the police officers who had insulted and beaten him.
25.  The proceedings are still pending before the Court of Cassation.